Vicious Thai gangs at Songkran

[StevePIraq]

So it seems it is all over, the police say the case is closed
Bangkok Post

"Deputy national police chief Wuthi Liptapallop said at the Hua Hin police station that the case was closed and the surveillance-camera footage was important evidence."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... e-to-leave

[STEVE G]

Police Probe ‘Leak’ of British Family Beating Video
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6&section=

[hhfarang]

It has made the main stream media here now and is showing up on my news feeds. This from CBS News:

"Video shows family getting attacked in Thailand
...
The attack is the latest act of violence against tourists in the Southeast Asian country.
...
"We have now arrested all four suspects," Chaiyakorn said. Three of the men were arrested within days of the incident and the fourth on Thursday, he said, identifying them as in their 20s and 30s.

"The men say they are sorry and that they wouldn't have done this if they weren't drunk,"
...
In March, four French tourists were assaulted on the island of Koh Kut as they walked to dinner. They included a mother and daughter who were both raped.

Two British backpackers were murdered on the island of Koh Tao in 2014. Autopsies showed the couple, a young man and woman, had been severely beaten and the woman raped. Two Myanmar, or Burmese, migrants were convicted of the crime based on DNA evidence that rights groups say was questionable."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/thailand-ga ... ily-video/

[alleykat]

I have personally witnessed unprovoked violence against Westerners in Thailand on several occasions (including a random attack on myself), and agree that it is definitely an issue, however I feel that on this particular occasion it is a case of the instigators getting more than they bargained for. The Welsh couple's son started the whole incident, then he fell over because his mother pushed him, and then his mother exacerbated the situation by antagonising the Thais. One of the Thai guys showed restraint after being verbally assaulted and then slapped by the mother, and then punched by the father. What did they expect might eventually happen?
Even more embarrassing was that the son showed he could not fight his way out of a paper bag, in front of the whole world, despite his superior height and reach.
I will concede that the final kick to the face of the mother was way over the top and unnecessary, but apart from that they got taught a lesson which is you don't yell and scream at Thai people in front of other Thais in a bar area, and then slap and punch them.

[europtimiste]

Police probe leak of Video:
The leaker is a hero.

[buksida]

Authorities: leaking Hua Hin attack footage “damaged the country”
Authorities say they want to find those responsible for leaking CCTV footage of the attack on three British tourists in Hua Hin at Songkran.

A province spokesman said that the footage was evidential material and was their property and bringing it into the public domain was both damaging to the country and an infringement of rights.

Hua Hin has said that they were not responsible for leaking the material, reports Daily News.

Police spokesman Kasana Jaemsawang said that the CCTV footage was the property of the Hua Hin municipality and as such should not have been leaked.

The footage appeared online some two weeks after the attacks and quickly received attention from a worldwide audience online and through newspapers and media throughout the world thereafter.

http://www.dailynews.co.th/regional/394700

[dtaai-maai]

Yes, it's good to see that now the trifling detail of the assault has been addressed, the really important aspect of this affair is being dealt with: who leaked the video that has damaged (what's left of) Thailand's reputation?

Actually, I thought it was initially claimed that the police had released it to identify the thugs?

[JamesWest]

Has Usual Suspect been harassed by the police or arrested yet? I ask this because he tried to help the victims.

[Homer]

[Mod edit: post deleted, off topic, we have already asked to keep bickering off this thread.]

[Ginjaninja]

Does anyone know if the men have been sentenced?
Sounds like they have been given a slap on the wrist and told to apologise before the police station doors were freely opened to them.
GN.

[STEVE G]

One of the English language Thai news sites said that they're been charged with causing grievous bodily harm a couple of days ago but who knows where it'll actually go.

[HHTel]

According to some sources they are in court on Monday (tomorrow). In the meantime, they're all out on bail!!

But tomorrow is a bank holiday, so who knows.

[Spitfire]

Sadly, what usually happens here in such situations is that an aweful crime like this takes place, then there is an intial media scrum with promises from the authorities to be harsh and appease the public revulsion at the incident in order to save 'face', only for the perps to be quietly released a couple of months later when it's all quietened down due to some ridiculous reason.

Happens all the time. There is no real justice in Thailand.....only the poor go to prison.

[Bluesky]

If and when this matter goes before the court I hope that the victims interests are properly represented particularly with respect to costs, pain and suffering

[Nereus]

Bashed Brit couple to testify in court

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... y-in-court

The elderly British couple whose family suffered a brutal attack by four Thai men will today testify before the Hua Hin Provincial Court.

Though still haunted by the assaults which left them and their son lying bloodied and unconscious on a street in a Hua Hin resort district, Lewis Owen, 68, and his wife Rosemary, 65, managed to smile when they were visited yesterday by Orasa Awutkhom, chief of the Prachuap Khiri Khan tourism office.

They were preparing to testify before the court after the couple earlier gave police accounts of what happened in the early hours of the first day of the Songkran festival on April 13.

Police will escort the pair to the court at 1.30pm, Prachuap Khiri Khan police chief Kasana Chamsawang said.

The four suspects face jail terms of between six months and 10 years if they are found guilty on charges of physical assault causing severe injuries.

...........................more at link..........